The Abbey Road Sessions

Surveying the best tunes over her quarter-century recording career, Kylie Minogue proves herself far more than just a vivacious dance-pop queen on The Abbey Road Sessions. These tracks employ a wide range of sonic strategies to bring out the emotional contours of Minogue’s material, allowing her to shift between playful sensuality to moody melodrama and back again. The Australian diva’s vocals rise to the occasion by combining a light, airy timbre with a sense of urgency and resilience. Sumptuous string backing gives songs like “All the Lovers,” “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and “Hand on Your Heart” the feel of classic orchestral pop. (The elegant ‘30s-style rendition of “I Should Be So Lucky” is especially effective.) Austere piano ballads like “Come into My World” are juxtaposed with spacey excursions like “Slow” and throbbing horn-powered numbers like “Locomotion.” Nick Cave joins Kylie on a stark guitar/vocal remake of their 1995 duet “Where the Wild Roses Grow.” Minogue does it all with effortless self-assurance, revisiting her hits with obvious pleasure while adding something fresh to her legacy.